Preparing for Surgery

Before surgery there a lot of things you have to do. I had to take a shower for the 2 days prior with Hibiclens.

The instructions are on the bottle they give you, and you cannot get it into your eyes, mouth or anywhere in your private areas.

It is a little bit drying, and your skin feels weird afterward. But it leaves something on your skin that protects it from infection.

I had to stop taking some medication a week before the surgery and some two days before, some the day before. I made a chart for the week leading up to surgery with everything I had to do every day to make sure I did it right.

Some things I wish I had done before surgery that you may want to think about:

Get a shower chair.  I did not get one, but it might be helpful. I would have used one if I had one for those first couple of days.  A plastic folding chair in the shower could also work - like the ones you can get at Costco. It was hard to stand there for the whole shower with my back to the shower, not able to lift my arms over my head and my husband having to shampoo my hair and wash my back. A chair would have helped.

Get a toilet riser or booster. This was a big issue for me the first couple of days. We have very low toilets in our upstairs bedrooms. They are whatever the standard toilet is they put in houses. I also had a little knee issue and related strength issues in that leg, but you can't push off the countertop with your arms to stand up. They want you to stand upright without using your arms.  This is much harder to do when the toilet is lower and you are weaker.  Not using your arms is going to be the big thing to remember for the first month or so.

This is the one we ended up ordering and my husband said it was easy to install. 

When we didn't need it anymore it was also easy to remove.

The higher nature of the seat helped me the most. I tried not to use the arms to help myself stand more than I had to. 

Get a shower head wand. We ordered one once I got home, but by the time it arrived from Amazon, I was doing better in the shower and we didn't need it.  You cannot let the shower spray hit your incision, so a shower wand will help you rinse off better. 

Get a handy carrying bag. I kept my spirometer, my chapstick, medicines, cell phone charger and other assorted things in my bag and brought it with me from room to room while I was recovering so I always had it with me. Once I came downstairs for the day, I wanted to make sure I had everything I needed. I also carried my hugging bear with me always! 

Things to bring to the hospital with you.

Here are things I brought with me to the hospital that were helpful, and a couple I wish I had thought of. I kept the small items in a little pouch right in bed with me so I could have them when I needed them. 

1. Extra long phone charging cord. The three foot cord that comes with your phone isn’t long enough. Get a 6 foot cord on Amazon and then you can have someone plug the phone into the wall behind the bed and it will reach to your bed. That way you don’t have to get up to charge it, reach it, or have to leave it somewhere else to charge. The only real electrical outlets you can use are probably behind your bed, or underneath the bed rail on the bed itself. I took the pic here to show what the wall behind my bed looked like. Somewhere back there is where my husband plugged in my long phone cord.

2. Body powder. You’re going to be cleaned up by nurses with wipes for a couple days. And you’re going to feel damp and gross. I like Gold Bond Ultimate body powder, but even baby powder works. You can’t put it on your chest or incision but you can dust your leg creases and down there. It was a god send for me, and they do not hand out baby powder at the hospital.

3. Chapstick. Your lips are going to be dry and all the hospital has are little packets of petroleum jelly which were a little gross. It’s amazing how nice a chap stick can make you feel.

4. Post surgical bra for women. Or for men if you need a post surgical brace. The hospital might give you one, but the one I had was way nicer than what they gave me. (Larger women will want to see my post on this!)

5. Comb or brush. Don’t forget that. You can buy disposable ones and throw them away when you are done if you want. But you will want to brush your hair.

6. Reading glasses if you need them. Don’t forget! 

7. Hand sanitizer.  They give you Kleenex, but sometimes it is nice to feel more sanitized.  And you might not get up for a day and need this.

8. Your own toiletry kit. I travel a lot, so I have a kit always at the ready with toothpaste, mouthwash etc. It was handy to have this, even though they will give you a toothbrush and toothpaste.  

I take notes on my iPhone, but you can also bring a small notebook and pen if you want. I found it helpful to take notes and even photos as things were happening. I was pretty loopy on pain meds the first day or so, and making notes I could read later was helpful.

'Go There', 'Stay There' and 'Go Home' Bags

GO THERE BAG: I had a small tote bag that I brought with me the day of surgery. When I undressed for surgery, I put my clothes in there and gave it to my husband to store in the car until I was discharged.  

I also had a small STAY THERE bag that I left in the car. This was what I would need after surgery, for my stay in the hospital.  It had my surgical bra, underwear, toiletry bag and small essentials bag holding everything I outlined above, and he brought that up to my room the day after surgery.

The day of surgery and night afterward they don't want you to have anything of value with you -- wallet, cell phone etc.  So my husband Jim kept all of that for me, and brought it up the next morning. 

My "go there bag" was now my "GO HOME" bag, and it stayed in the car until the day I was discharged and then he brought it up so I could change back into my street clothes which were still safely in the bag.

I felt pretty darn organized and had everything I needed when I needed it!